Differences Between Odds

Sports betting is growing at a rapid pace, and with the advent of online betting this has become a popular pastime, much like playing online bingo Australia games have. For punters who are serious about sports betting it is important to understand how the betting odds work.

When betting online punters will come across three main formats. Fractional, Decimal and American. Punters who are betting on sports should be able to switch between the different odds formats and by understanding what each one means and how they work will help punters know which bets to place and which odds will give them the best value.

Decimal Odds

Decimal odds are offered by most bookmakers, especially in Europe and is the simplest odds format. With decimal odds punters multiply their bet by the decimal and the answer is the total winnings paid out and this includes the bet. An example of this would be if the odds are 5.00 and punters bet $1 they will be paid out 5$. Punters must always remember that the bet is calculated into the winnings so when working out the net profit they must always include their bet.

Fractional Odds

Fractional odds are found predominantly in UK and Ireland. This type of betting odd in is given in a mathematical format giving the punter the amount that will be paid out to the amount bet to win. For example 4/1 means that for each $4 the punter would like to win they will need to bet $1. The first number is what the punter will win; this does not include the bet. If a punter was to bet $1 at 4/1 they would win $5 and they also get their $1 bet back, which gives them a total of $5. Fractional odds will always be whole numbers. If the winnings cannot be divided by 1 then the amount bet will increase to the nearest whole number.

American Odds

Australian punters may also see the term American or Moneyline odds when they are placing a sport bet online. These odds are popular in America and are shown in a different format to decimal and fractional odds. With the American format the odds are shown using a positive or a negative. The negative number will indicate the favourite and the positive will indicate the underdog. If the odds are shown as even punters will win exactly the same amount they had bet. If the odds for both teams are -110 it shows that neither of the teams are favoured.

Percentage and Proportional Odds

Punters may also come across the terms percentage and proportional odds when placing a sports bet online. This does not reflect the odds prices but rather the percentage of the payout as opposed to the bet or the percentage of bets a punter needs to win. An example of this would be a percentage win of a 4/1 bet would be 400%, which means that punters will win 400% of the amount they bet. On the other hand if the odds are 1/4 then the payout would be 25% relative to the amount bet.

Most of the online sportsbooks will allow punters to view the odds in a format they prefer, either fractions or decimals. The type of odds that are placed on a certain sporting event will assist punters when they decide which type of bet to place.

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